The purpose of the Annual Nonprofit Governance Symposium is to highlight current best practices, lessons learned from the field, and trends in effective nonprofit and philanthropic board leadership, as well as board recruitment and retention. The premise is that governing well is essential for strong nonprofits working efficiently and effectively to address critical needs in our communities. This year, the overarching theme is People, Place and Performance: The Triple Bottom Line for Nonprofit Governance. This theme is woven throughout plenaries, seminars and workshops organized around three modes of governance: fiduciary, strategic, and generative.

Overview of the Program

Our opening reception on Thursday evening features the Kaleidoscope award, showcasing what good governance looks like and initial thoughts from the Kaleidoscope award-winning board on how they are incorporating the People, Place and Performance framework into board governance. The “Update on the Sector” session highlights key trends in nonprofits and philanthropy in the San Diego region and implications for a triple bottom line approach. The plenary, “What is the Triple Bottom Line for Nonprofit Governance?” will be a moderated discussion with reflections from leaders on nonprofit and philanthropy boards about integrating People, Place and Performance as an accountability framework. The workshops and seminars use a combination of case studies, experiential and interactive learning approaches for participants to be exposed to best practices, hear lessons learned, and gain valuable tools of the trade in good governance.

About the Theme:People, Place and Performance – The Triple Bottom Line for Nonprofit Governance

There is growing recognition that our social well-being, the environment, health and vitality of the places where we live, and our economic prosperity are not mutually exclusive but rather interdependent. With this in mind, an increasing number of organizations are embracing a triple bottom line, aligning traditional financial performance considerations with the need to integrate issues of social equity, as well as community and environmental concerns.

In the nonprofit context, People constitute the social or human capital bottom line as it relates to fair and beneficial treatment of an organization’s workforce and the populations they serve. Place is the community and environmental bottom line as it pertains to practices both within the organization and the locality or region where it works. Performance is the financial bottom line, which takes into account the full cost for organizations to deliver their purpose for social good.

Three Essential Modes of Good Governance: Fiduciary, Strategic and Generative

Good governance is the process of giving fiduciary, strategic and generative leadership to a nonprofit organization to help it reach its full potential. Fiduciary governance is the stewardship of tangible assets, through oversight of operations, legal compliance and fundraising. Strategic governance moves the organization wisely into a preferred future, shaping the work to meet it and offering technical assistance along the way. Generative governance defines the context for both fiduciary and strategic governance, making sense and meaning of complex challenges, problems, opportunities and questions.